I agree with Gene Carrington (Letters, Aug. 21). Jane Fonda portraying Nancy Reagan in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” is a disgrace to her and to one of the finest presidents we have had during our generation. As Carrington wrote, either they were too young to know better, or had no education on what matters with respect and dignity.

Diana E. Garibaldi

Burlingame

Why no outrage over Cruz birth certificate?

I wonder why we don’t hear the outrage from the Tea Party over Sen. Ted Cruz’s birth certificate like they did (and are still doing) over President Obama’s birth certificate. Some want to impeach Obama. Let’s compare the facts. Obama was born in Hawaii; Ted Cruz was born in Canada and is a citizen of Canada and Cuba. Yet, the Tea Party is silent over Ted Cruz’s legal right to run for president. I don’t see them holding signs at rallies saying, “Go back to Canada or Cuba,” or, “You aren’t one of us.” Could it be hypocrisy or even racism?

Thomas Sutton

San Jose

Only professionals should give shots

The California Supreme Court’s decision to allow schools to give students insulin injections and other medications without the supervision of licensed health care providers is a step backward for our children’s health and safety and sets a dangerous precedent for children in the rest of the country.

Nursing in this country is regulated for a reason. Insulin and other prescribed medications can be serious and even life-threatening if not administered correctly. Unlicensed health care providers simply do not have the same education, qualifications and responsibilities that licensed professionals possess. As nurses and patient advocates, we are opposed to the court’s ruling because it places children — among the most vulnerable of our patient population — in harm’s way by lowering the standards for the care that they are entitled to receive.

As nurses, parents, and citizens, we have a duty to provide the highest standard to all children. Sadly, this shortsighted ruling takes us in another direction entirely.

Kudos to Susanne B. Wilson (Letters, Aug. 20) for her defense of the quality of education available at state-supported schools compared to the “elite” (and expensive) ones. I have degrees from two state schools and an “elite” school. I found that the state schools were more interested in educating students and not so concerned with burnishing their image. In many ways the state schools were better for the students.

Bryce Johnson

Saratoga

Proposed gun laws won’t end violence

The avalanche of gun “control” legislation being rammed through the Legislature by anti-gun fanatics has no merit. None of the proposed restrictions on gun ownership will do anything to mitigate the violence in Oakland, which happens daily, and other economically challenged cities. Nor will they do anything to remove guns from gangs — which is the primary cause of gun-related violence.

The anti-gun fanatics are hellbent on forcing their life view on everyone else in California. The laws they promulgate have only one objective — making it so onerous to legally own and operate a firearm in California that no one will consider it.

One of these proposals will make me a scofflaw. I inherited a M1 Garand from my father, who fought in World War II and landed on Iwo Jima. One of the new “laws” will make it illegal for me to own that weapon because it has a detachable magazine. This is the rifle that won that war. How absurd and disrespectful can you get?

California already has the most restrictive gun legislation in the United States. Those laws have done nothing to stop the gun violence. The new laws being pushed will not change those sad facts.

John Mertz

Los Gatos

Rezoning communities just helps developers

A vote against Measure D this coming November is not focused against low-income, senior housing. We respect the Palo Alto Housing Corporation’s many successful projects all over town. Our differences with the Palo Alto Housing Corporation are peripheral to the Maybell project. Basically, we oppose rezoning neighborhoods.

Planned community zoning is city hall-speak for rezoning. It is increasingly used by city hall to favor developers. Developers who are brimming over with a never-ending list of projects. We are in a critical fight for the very soul of the city. Growth can be good. Overgrowth, like a cancer, can destroy a community. Join with us to protect all Palo Alto neighborhoods.

Bob Roth

Palo Alto

FDA’s blood donor rules exclude too man people

Bravo to the Mercury News for calling out the FDA on its antiquated blood donor rules. As a blood donor since 1972, I have watched with dismay as the FDA has excluded more and more donors from its donor pool, while the need for blood has been growing ever greater. Instead of using the blood testing tools at its disposal, the FDA uses arcane rules that exclude whole segments of the population. Blood banks already test all donor’s blood, so why not use those results to screen out compromised blood instead of removing so many donors from the pool? Besides the male gay population, it recently excluded a majority of women from donating platelets, and it regularly defers donors for far longer than necessary for procedures like teeth implants. I want our blood to be safe, but using well-established tests in conjunction with reasonable questions and deferral periods makes far more sense in 2013.

David Taylor

Redwood City

Good riddance to GOP in stations’ debates

So, the grumpy old white-men’s party won’t play presidential debates with those naughty children from CNN and NBC any longer, and it’s taking its podium and going home. Poor babies!

What will they say next, that they won’t take part in debates on any channel that carries their opponents’ advertising? Good riddance!

In closed door talks, Sen. Dianne Feinstein agreed to a major new water policy for California that sells out the Delta and guts Endangered Species Act protections. Sen. Barbara Boxer is fighting the good fight to remove the rider from her comprehensive water infrastructure bill, but it may take a presidential veto.